Graffiti Kitchen

by Eddie Campbell

Story, art and cover by Eddie Campbell. Another adventure of Campbells' autobiographical alter ego, Alec MacGarry. Throwing caution to the wind, Alec becomes romantically involved with the mother of a previous lover. 48 pages, Black & White interior art, Mature Readers. First Printing, cover as shown, published in 1993 by Tundra

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

48 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Eddie Campbell is a British comics artist and cartoonist whose work has shaped the evolution of modern graphic storytelling. He is widely known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell, his long collaboration with Alan Moore that reimagines the Jack the Ripper case through an ambitious and meticulously researched narrative. Campbell is also the creator of the long-running semi-autobiographical Alec series, later collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and the satirical adventure cycle Bacchus, which follows a handful of Greek gods who have wandered into the contemporary world. His scratchy pen-and-ink technique draws on impressionist influences and early masters of expressive line art, while his writing blends humor, candor, and literary ambition in a manner that critics have compared to Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller.
Campbell began developing autobiographical comics in the late 1970s before expanding the Alec stories throughout the following decades, publishing early instalments through small press networks in London and later with major independent publishers. After moving to Australia in the mid-1980s, he continued to produce both Alec and Bacchus stories while contributing to a range of international anthologies. His partnership with Moore on From Hell, initially serialised in the anthology Taboo, became one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of its era and further cemented his reputation for grounded, character-driven illustration.
Across a varied career Campbell has worked as a creator, editor, publisher, and occasional court illustrator. His contributions to comics have earned him numerous industry awards, including the Eisner Award, the Harvey Award, the Ignatz Award, the Eagle Award, and the UK Comic Art Award. He continues to produce new work while maintaining a strong presence in both literary and comics circles.

Reviews

[Hamish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, but not as good as The King Canute crowd. I do like that he uses a more straight-forward narrative here that isn't quite so fractured and allows him to pull some nice verbal tricks. Unfortunately the relentless first-person nature of the narrative lays the focus too much on himself and not enough on his group of friends which was a large part of the charm of the first volume. It also loses that comic strip esque rhythm that I enjoyed. But more problematic is his art. It's Eddie Campbell, so it still looks pretty good and can be quite evocative at times, but it's way more scratchy and unpolished than his usual work and gives the impression that it was tossed off too quickly, giving it an almost unfinished look. I imagine this was an intentional stylistic choice, but it's probably the weakest I've ever seen his art. But on the whole, even with these shortcomings, the book is still quite charming and readable. Definitely a step down from the first volume though.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is where Campbell begins to hit his stride in the Alec series, with a story from the author's younger years and an awkward love triangle. His storytelling is more inventive and entertaining here than in the first book.